Mass Effect: Not a Hero
by americancheeze
Summary: Chief Roland Morgan was shunted off to a colony on the edge of the galaxy after pissing off the wrong people. Little did anyone know that what seemed like a simple posting to Eden Prime would change everything and end with a new beginning.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: A Prime Target

My name is Roland Morgan, and that day I hadn't started out with the foggiest notion that I would spend a good portion of the day fighting for survival or any of the day hunched behind some crates with scraps of tech I'd managed to scrape up from a nearby depot and bodies of the geth drones. The geth themselves were too complex to scavenge quickly, but their hovering drones were crude things with just targeting and firing systems, hover jets, and the standard networking. The fragility of the things also meant the geth didn't normally bother with much of the safeguards I'd run into trying to loot the other troops. The simple fact of the matter was I hadn't bothered to grab any omni-gel or tech grenades from my office, so I was stuck with just weapons. Life was so peaceful in general on Eden Prime that I hadn't thought I'd need anything advanced. I was lucky I'd even decided to pick up my sniper rifle.

First thing first, I turned down the power on the small cutting laser I'd found in the tool building. It was useless as a weapon; normally only used for opening things when speed was more important than leaving the thing intact. I could use it for other things though. I'd already taken out a couple of geth squads after ambushing them with falling debris, and I was about to follow it up by turning the laser into a melter and shaping another tool into something more deadly. The straight end of a crowbar was soon a crude blade that would be good enough to slice circuits. I made sure to leave enough grip to maintain use of the hooked end. The irony of using the cutter to make its less damaging counterpart into a lethal weapon was lost on me in the moment, but would dawn on me in a quiet moment later.

Next up, I used it to cut the useless bits of the drones away from the parts I could use for making the tech I lacked. Next was turing the power of the laser down even further and fiddling with it a bit to focus the beam so I could use it for soldering wires. The sound of the geth's mechanical chirping, the flicker of their headlights on nearby metal, and the clanking of their robotic feet on the metal flooring nearby all told me there were hostiles coming near. I'd made the right choice in stashing the scraps quickly. I'd lost some salvage earlier by making the mistake of not staying mobile and not knowing about the geth's collective consciousness, so I wasn't going to make it again.

I silently picked up my new blade and waited. I lurked in my hiding place until I could count their number. Three foot soldiers with assault rifles. Standard fare that worked to my favor. Most geth didn't seem that good at close range fighting, and their weapon made it worse. Regardless of what a rookie soldier might say a veteran knows the truth. A rifle limits your close range options so much that if you are against a seasoned hand-to-hand specialist you are better off dropping your gun. Rifles are worse than useless that close. Not that it would end up mattering in the battle at hand.

I waited for the right moment, then rushed the few steps between me and the nearest geth, sundering the wire at the base of its skull that I'd found out earlier was a kill point. Shields don't stop anything going at less than sonic speed, and while the wire wasn't cut clean through, it didn't need to be. Just a break in the circuit would take such a thing out. Thing is, the shields of geth run on a different circuit, so they were still up even though the geth was paralyzed. It helped a lot when I used the body as a shield, grabbed the thing's rifle in one hand, and used the weapon to take out the furthest of the three from me. The third one rolled to cover, but that was dealt with by throwing the corpse shield over the cover and into the thing when it popped up to shoot. Such a move pinned it long enough for me to run up and shoot it in the head.

Killing the small squad wasn't good enough though. They had a hive mind. Every single geth on the planet had discovered me when they did. I had to move. The shields in my vasic armor weren't strong enough for sustained firefights, so I couldn't afford to risk direct confrontation. Running along, I glanced up at the huge bug-like ship towering over the colony. That thing... whatever it was, was clearly out of our leagues. It took only a moment of thought to reach that conclusion. It being a ship aside, it was clearly not of geth make. It didn't match up with the aesthetics of their tech and machines are nothing if not consistent with everything they assemble. No machine would make their ships look _that _different from their other stuff. Whoever owned that ship was no geth, but advanced enough to get control of them.

Thinking back on how mundane the start of the day had been and how I'd thought I would be spending the evening I had to wonder... Where the hell was the Normandy?

* * *

><p><p>

_A few hours earlier..._

I sighed, looking up for the datapad in my hands and away from the police report displayed on it. The new targets of my gaze were a stern female soldier, one of the men in her squad, and a local worker that had been in my office more often than more than once in the past. While the colony on Eden Prime was a quiet place most of the time, its place on the edge of the Terminus Systems made it draw more bad blood than the typical Earth colony. Unsavory types drifted in to find a hiding place from the sins of their pasts or honest work, often both. Until recently it had not been a problem really, we had them well under control, but with Alliance Military's arrival the Terminus outcasts were on edge. I only had the details of the Alliance mission because I was head of the usual security force for the place and the brass had the sense to cooperate with local law enforcement rather than shove it aside.

I shifted my attention specifically to the dock worker, a shifty fellow named Tyson Moore that I'd managed to link to previous gang activities on Omega. He was a former Blue Sun mercenary, but not one of the combat-geared ones. He had killed a few people back then, but his job had mostly been smuggling. I only let the man roam free because he was predictable and easy to regulate. Making the local thugs get behind him and think he was good at what he did, while actually being in complete control of his actions, was far preferable to a better criminal moving in. That, and Tyson wasn't the type to inspire complete loyalty. Too shifty. It was easy to set things up so that his gang would implode if I wanted to.

The circumstances of his most recent visit could throw a wrench in things though. He'd grown a little big for his britches after making shady connections with an Alliance soldier that used to be in a gang. That problem aside, it had given Tyson the guts to act like the Alliance couldn't touch him.

"First of all. Tyson, you can't go around picking fights with soldiers and expect them to not fight back... and win."

The man, of course, had the predictable reaction to my comment and spouted the typical thug smack talk not worth remembering.

I ignored it, turned to the gunnery chief, and motioned at her subordinate, "Chief Williams, I trust you've reprimanded the private on proper conduct and he won't be swinging first in the future?"

The woman nodded, respecting my authority even though she technically had more than me, "My CO handled it far better than I could have, Chief. Commander Wilks wants him in the brig overnight as a lesson."

"I would have put him in there either way." I looked back to Tyson, "Hope you like his company. I'm putting you in the very next cell; and if you don't play nice you'll be in there a lot longer than Private Walker."

"You can't do this to me. Do you realize who I am?"

I gestured to my computer, "I wonder. Should I look around on the network for crimes done in other sectors?" The man tensed, "If you're a big shot there's probably a lot of people that could tell me a lot about you. I bet you've got old friends back home that miss you."

"I'll play ball."

I smiled, "That's good of you. Now I'll let the four officers that brought you in help you settle in while I get the paperwork out of the way." One motion called the officers forward, "Gentlemen."

A few button presses filed the police report along with the resulting punishment before the two were even out of the room and I looked up to see Chief Williams' neutral expression. It was still obvious despite the professional demeanor that she wasn't satisfied, "Good. That's that. I'm surprised you can't hit Moore with a stiffer penalty though. Word has it he's got a rap sheet and is head of a gang."

I delayed my reply long enough for Tyson to be out of the room and thus out of earshot, "I can. I just don't. He's more of an asset than a liability. As long as the local punks think he's a good leader and hot stuff while he actually isn't, someone less predictable won't take over."

The soldier was understandably surprised, "You mean you're letting him do what he wants because he's easy to deal with?"

"Exactly." I explained, "It's a principal applied in a few small to medium colonies. I believe it's called 'escalation control' or something like that. If you fight crime too hard, crime gets harder to fight. It's better to control the battle. It's not practical for larger populations though."

Williams studied me carefully, "Talking to you right now, I get the feeling the rumor is true."

I casually went back to some paperwork, but continued talking, "The one about me being former N7? That's not true. If you mean the less common one about me being plain ex-military, that's only partly true."

"That's the one, but what do you mean 'partly true'?"

"I was only briefly in the Intelligence Department, barely more than a recruit. After leaving I worked with C-Sec for a while as a detective."

"How'd you end up on a backwater colony like Eden Prime?"

I smirked, "Let's just say I pissed off my boss."

"Ah. I get the feeling there's a story there."

"Yeah, there is; but hey, at least I used dextro-friendly pudding."

She raised an eyebrow at that, "_Pudding?_"

"Long story." I paused, "Wait... not really. Medium length actually."

"Maybe you could tell me later. I get off duty in a few hours and for a colony in the middle of nowhere the bar is pretty well stocked."

I glanced at her. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was probably pretty good looking, but was a tom-boy to the core that paid no mind to her appearance. She was one of many women in the military making damn sure the men in her squad not only took her seriously, but didn't get any unwelcome ideas. I didn't bother to take in her mundane appearance much, since neither of us were interested in romantic endeavors. Her invite was very clearly just for friendly drinks.

"Sounds good. Been a while sense I stepped out." I offered a handshake, "We haven't officially met, the name's Roland Morgan."

"Ashley Williams." she grabbed my hand in a lightly armored grip and shook it, "Mind if I just call you Chief? Being in the military gives out weird habits."

"Fine by me." I replied, then turned back to my work, "If you'll excuse me I have to coordinate the shift in security caused by your people moving to secure the dig site for the Normandy pick-up."

She nodded, "Yeah, my squad's running point on that. Sorry for the trouble."

"No problem. We were doing the job just fine by ourselves before you moved in, so slipping back into it is easy."

"I'll leave you to it." she bid farewell and I returned the sentiment with a cursory nod.

Left to my own devices, I sync the computer to my omni-tool and got ready to do the rounds. The process started with sending the new duty rosters out to the officers on duty and off, and then running checks to make sure my link to the server and communications wasn't going to crap out on me. Next, of course, was checking my gear and suiting up. Policing the 'backwater colony' didn't usually entail a lot of combat, but strapping on a suit of light armor with a shield generator was just common sense. The same principal applied to the standard issue pistol I did the next system check on and strapped to my belt. Mind you it was C-Sec standard issue and not Alliance, a hold-over from my days on the Citadel. I actually preferred the higher stopping power despite the slower rate of fire. In police work, putting the target down right away was preferable to putting tons of holes in it.

As I was clipping my gun to its place on my belt, the other weapon from my C-Sec days caught my eye. A standard-issue Mantis sniper rifle, highly tuned and tweaked by my former partner. I hadn't fired it in a while, not since getting stationed on Eden Prime. After all, C-Sec might need snipers to defuse nasty situations sometimes, but such a thing never happened at my new post. However, given the fact there was going to be a ship coming in and picking up something important from the dig site, I figured it would be prudent to have it on hand and not need it rather than need it and not have it. Not like it took up a lot of space. Even though it was nearly five feet long, the rifle collapsed to a size that could be carried on your belt if you didn't mind the weight of it or the issues with drawing it from there.

But I digress. Gearing up didn't take that long even with my casual pace, so I was out of the door pretty quickly. I passed by a few officers coming in to start their shifts and greeted them, but didn't stop to talk.

I was only a handful of streets through my patrol when I noticed something weird. A lack of the normal sounds the communications systems in my armor and omni-tool made even with the channel not open wide. I opened it and there was a bizarre feedback, not static... more like a transmission... like something in the back of my head whispering at the rest of it. The noise felt sort of welcoming in a completely terrifying kind of way.

I shut the channel completely of course, but for some reason it didn't help much. My instincts pulled my attention down the street more so than my actual, distracted senses in time to see a scout drone that wasn't Alliance make. I was head consultant for security in the colony and had been the full head of it before then. If that drone was ours, I would have seen it. Something in the way it moved in reaction to spotting me provided even more evidence, as did the whir of its weapon systems priming.

I know you're probably doubting me on that. Most people tell me that automated weapon systems don't make noise when they get ready to fire, but I could always hear it. That talent saved my hide right then. I darted to the side and let loose three bullets from my pistol in the same fluid motion as drawing it. Two more hit and ended the thing before I reached cover. The memory of my instructor from the academy echoed in my head, driving back the weird signal.

_"Don't use your gun unless you've got no other choice but to kill something with it. If you have to kill something, put it down hard and fast. It's not being heartless, it's being more merciful than the scum that's trying to leave you to a slow death."_

Another two drones came around the same corner and opened fire. I cursed not bringing supplies for tech grenades, but made due with what I had. I put all thought aside from the fight aside and went into a kind of zone, popping out in a lull in the oncoming fire and sent an pinpoint burst of fire straight into one drone and then the other, my marksmanship training paying dividends towards the temporary victory. Even a grunt would know it wasn't the end, even before the descent of a giant insectoid ship that nearly grasped the space port in its insidious legs. Even before a squad of machine-men approached from another route, probably from an alternate drop point.

"That ain't the Normandy... and those aren't marines." I stated the obvious to nobody in particular.

I knew I had to protect the colony, and that I should hit that enemy squad. I also knew my chances. There were seven of them. The most I could hope to bring down before they got to me was two or three, and then they had far too much firepower for me to handle alone. I had to get to the others, maybe get to an Alliance squad and coordinate with them. The problem was in the setting. I, and by extension that enemy squad, was in a residential area. While I pondered my course of action they had already started towards one of the houses.

I had a job to do. Part one was using the link I had to the security tower to remotely lock the doors on the street. Which got off to a great start when I tried and found the strange signal was jamming that too. There wasn't going to be an easy solution. I would have to get stupid. Part one of that was kneeling down and aiming carefully for the glowing head of one of the invaders, the one opening that door. That one went a lot better, and my success drew the attention of the other six that didn't like the part right after where their squadmate's head exploded. Grabbing the drones for salvage, I didn't take a second shot, instead ducking into a nearby alley between buildings and fleeing from the resulting pursuit. I switched to my pistol for quicker fire and started out on my own little guerrilla war.

_End of flashback_

There was little time to keep reflecting on the day, the geth were everywhere and there was a security tower to unjam. If I could get it operational then locking the invaders out of the houses and other buildings was the first but least game-changing part of it. The security tower was also an alternate communications hub, with it back online we could call for help. Of course it wasn't going to be a simple matter of walking up to it and pressing some buttons. Like I said, the geth were everywhere. I'd have to either take the time to find help or get creative and that wasn't a hard choice. Time wasn't the most abundant resource on hand.

The next step upon reaching a secure position again was rewiring my basic omni-tool. It was just standard issue fair, barely capable of anything. I had to overclock it, tweak some things, remove factory locks that I still don't think make any sense. I had to take a 'middle of nowhere security force' model to the caliber held by the police force of the Citadel itself. I needed the full suite of elite policing tools at the minimum to get this thing done. A test of turning the scrap parts into omni-gel confirmed the modifications were a success, at least to a small degree. Running the familiar coding that commanded the tool to make Sabotage and Overload charges proved the rest worked. As long as I could salvage some more or made every one count, I had enough to attempt a sneak attack.

A ray of hope came over a static-riddled line, "This is Commander Jason Wilks of the Alliance. Is there anyone out there? Hello?"

I linked to the transmission and replied, "You should maintain radio silence as much as possible, Commander, the geth have control of our communications network. I'm trying to fix that problem."

"Explains why we can't raise the Normandy. What's your rank soldier?"

"I'm not military, Commander. This is Chief Roland Morgan of Alliance Colonial Security."

The sound of gunfire and grenades nearly drowned his next words out, "Good man either way. There's so many dead right now I'm not about to turn aside help. I'm sorry to say my unit can't assist, we're too far away and we have our own priorities."

"I know. You should get going. I've got this." Of course he was talking about the dig site without giving that info over a compromised channel. I wasn't at all surprised. After all, what else would the geth want on Eden Prime aside from whatever the scientists had dug up?

"Get communications back up and we'll call the Normandy for support. If you fail, we're all pretty much dead. It's all you, Chief Morgan."

"Aye, sir. I'll maintain radio silence until transmission is clear and safe."

"Good luck and god's speed."

"Same to you, Commander." I cut the line and pulled up a local map on my omni-tool, planning my approach carefully.

At the time, I had no idea it would be the last time I talked to Wilks. Nor did I realize the extent of what was to come. The invasion of Eden Prime was only the beginning, and the infiltration of my my own precinct was only the next of many fights I would have with the geth. Worse was the fact that far more dangerous enemies lay in my future.

Next Chapter: Changing the Game


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Changing the Game

I went to a special place in my mind to escape the disorienting signal, driving it from my mind with memories of more dominating presences. Earlier I did so by calling on my days in C-Sec Academy. As I moved silently through the spaces between buildings and surveyed the situation at the entrance to the station I did the same but instead called upon my teachers from Alliance Intelligence. Though they did not give any combat training after you got out of the basic course that all soldiers had to take, the department did provide advanced tactical and recon courses.

_"Your job isn't fighting, it's information and manipulation. We will not train you to fire a gun. You are trained to point the guns of entire armies. We won't be handing you a weapon. Your mind is your weapon, soldiers are your bullets, and if you do your job right so is the battlefield."_

I am not a marine. I am not the type to charge in and mow things down, breaching doors and holding ground through attrition. Looking at the station I eyed two geth guarding the door, but visible numbers meant nothing. If I hit them then every geth on the planet would know that tower was being attacked and there was no way I could hold that place against a whole geth battalion and get it up and running at the same time. Not by myself. Worst of all was that the building was small, so that was the only entrance. I had to get them out of the way. I needed to use all my weapons, not just my guns. Good thing my only being in Alliance Intelligence briefly had nothing to do with me being bad at the job. I had run through the handful of scenarios in moments and formed a plan of attack in pretty much no time.

If the enemy all shared information instantly, then I just had to make sure that information was wrong. I backtracked, remembering a supply depot within line of sight of the station's front door. I would instead attack that, making sure to get the attention of those guards. They would be lured away and all the geth would think I was attacking the depot. Meanwhile I'd swing around and enter the station before they replaced the guards, covertly engage the door locks and restore the system in the time it would take them to notice the ruse. It was a very simple plan, but the most cunning ones often are.

Sneaking around, I came up around the opposite side of the depot and minded the timing. I had to make sure that there were only the four geth that were nearby, keep the variables in my formula at the most manageable level. When the moment was perfect I sprang forward and hooked the neck of the nearest geth with my modified crowbar holding it in front of me like a shield. Rather than kill it, I actually wanted it to broadcast its status and struggle. I mowed his partner down with rounds from my pistol and then fired and the guards at the station as I hit the button to open the depot. They advanced to firing range in their typical calculated way. Calculated by both them and me. I threw the hostage at their feet right before they reached the default firing distance and the two units paused for an instance to adjust to the new scenario, the former hostage standing to join them in moving to position. They were about to fire when the geth I'd grabbed suddenly beeped and exploded, disorienting them with an Overload charge I'd planted on him. The distraction was enough for me to hit them with a Sabotage. The precision strike ended how you'd think at that point. The helpless geth got mowed down. First the one that tried to roll to cover behind the nearby crate, second was the one that tried to rush me, and last was the one that waited for his gun to unjam and was about to fire.

Ignoring the depot I'd opened, I took a quick look around to make sure no more geth were watching, then bolted for the station, slipping through the door with another charge ready if there were more geth inside. Despite my efforts, there was one. Thankfully it wasn't looking my way right away and my body rolled to hide behind the front desk almost entirely on instinct. When the synthetic turned and rounded the desk to investigate, I circled around the other side. Through sheer luck when it went out the door and looked around it spotted someone else. I felt bad about leaving whoever it was to that geth, but my task was more vital than one life. I moved to the door and locked it then moved quickly to my console. Intelligence training was all about data and getting it where it needed to be, so the basic training included ways to get transmission through jamming. A few dummy subroutines and a couple data masks were all it took, but the fact that it took every trick I knew to get those running right against the geth intrusion said something about their ability.

"Commander Wilks, you've got five minutes. I can't get you total clarity, but I can get you enough to get the message across." The channel opened, but the reply was muffled by gunfire and explosions. I could only make out something about an ambush, "Commander? Commander you need to broadcast now, I can't make a long range transmission from here without pulling the entire geth army down on me. Commander!"

I barely heard a confirmation as the transmission began, then a familiar voice cut through the noise, it was Gunnery Chief Williams, "Get down!"

Wilks started sending his call, "We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't... argh!... Need evac! They came out of nowhere. We need-"

The familiar sound of a gunshot wound being forcibly created cut him off. It was clear he was dead, "Dammit! Wilks! Wilks are you alive?" Nothing, "Dammit!"

Quickly locking all the civilian doors in the colony with the emergency safeguard, I could only hope the measure wasn't trapping too many outside. Thankfully it couldn't trap people inside with anything. Otherwise I'd have likely had nightmares later of people escaping the grasp of a geth, only to find they couldn't get out the door to flee, like in some in horror vid or something. That aside, I had to make a tough call really fast. The transmission had been sent, so help was on the way, and this console was the only one that could unlock every door at once. If I broke it, the citizenry would be safer, but I'd have to take the primary communications tower to send another transmission. In the end I decided the colonists needed to be secured and one message was enough. I jammed a Sabotage charge into the system and detonated it, the close proximity to the sensitive bits frying the whole thing. I couldn't hold the place alone and with Wilks' squad down there was nobody keeping the geth from making off with whatever they were after. I had to hit the dig site myself.

_Around twenty minutes later..._

Breathing hard, I injected some medigel into the hole in my thigh and watched the material form a seal and isolate the tiny bullet for removal later. _"If there is a later."_

I staunched the bleeding from a bite wound I'd gotten not long after I was shot and thanked my lucky stars the armor I was wearing minimized the various electrical burns I would have otherwise gotten. My mind reeled from fatigue and the new enemy. They looked as human as something so inhuman could be. More circuitry than flesh. I'd seen spikes scattered across the landscape turning citizens into those mindless cybernetic zombies, and they looked close enough to geth technology, but it seemed inefficient. One huge spike to make one unit and it required a body? Even the psychological impact of seeing old friends in that form didn't seem worth the time for such a small scale strike. What the hell was so important about the dig site that they were taking those kinds of measures?

I was a few clicks south of finding out, but the closer I got the thicker the resistance was. I was very much outnumbered and outgunned. There was no way I would be saving the day without help. Or at least catching my breath. In fact, I was so tired I almost didn't pick up the radio chatter or see that Alliance vessel approaching and stopping at a drop point far east of my position. The communications tower was likely compromised again, but that ship provided its own hub so I tried my best to cut through the jamming and find the right channel to contact the reinforcements.

"Normandy crew, this is Chief Roland Morgan of Alliance Colonial Security. Do you copy?" gathering my strength, I moved up the ridge to get a better look at the dig site and space port. Perhaps I could meet up with them on the way or pull sniper duty.

A voice came over the connection, it was slightly distorted from the transmission, but it carried the tone of an ally. Probably turian, "This is Nihlus Krylik, patching you in now. Set your omni-tool to channel 7, I've got it secured."

"Right." I did so.

Nihlus addressed someone else on the channel, "Commander Shepard, I've got the local security chief on the com, he's patched in now. Chief Morgan, what is your position?"

"A few clicks south of and overlooking the dig site. I just made it to the ridge line separating it from the civilian sector. Give me a moment and I'll try to survey the area."

Nihlus seemed to approve, "I'm sending you my coordinates, see what you can do."

Another voice spoke up, which I assumed was Commander Shepard, "Giving you my squad's position too. The transmission painted an ugly picture, what's the situation in the civilian sector?"

"Overrun by the geth but fairly secure. Most of the attack seems centered on this district rather than the rest of the colony. The geth can bypass the security eventually, but it should slow them down." I scanned the area near Nihlus, "Nihlus, check your corners. Geth squad on the right in the clearing ahead of you."

"Roger that."

Another new voice, "The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in two hundred years. Why attack now?"

"They must be after the beacon." Shepard replied.

"I thought they found something huge in those ruins, but a beacon?" I was naturally shocked, "Any clue what's in it?"

"We're as in the dark as you are on that, Chief."

Finding Shepard, I spotted his three man squad approaching a turn in the small valley they were in. Inspecting some dead colonists, Shepard motioned for one of his number to take point. Too late I spotted some drones flying in fast, "Shepard, hit the dirt, you've got incoming!"

I aimed my rifle and fired, but the point man was mowed down soon after by the other two drones. I slammed another shot into the side of the next drone and the commander dropped the last with a shout of anger. The dead soldier's name was Jenkins, and the two survivors moved quickly to his body.

New voice took it a little hard, but mostly in stride, "Ripped right through his shields. He didn't stand a chance."

Shepard consoled the man, "We have to move, Kaiden, we'll make sure he gets a proper burial later."

"Move now rather than later, Shepard, you've got more drones headed your way." My scan of the path ahead came across the distant sight of someone slender in white armor running from a squad of geth and drones. "Shooting gave away my position so I've got to move. Shepard, double time it, your current path has you en route to a survivor under fire."

"Got it."

"Nihlus, I don't have a bead on you from this position, are you good?"

"This place is crawling, but I'm clear for the moment. I could use your eyes though."

"Repositioning now. That survivor is in more pressing straights right now and I need to get closer to lend him a hand... or rather a bullet."

"Good to have some extra fire support." Shepard noted.

The run to a new spot wasn't as bad as I imagine the other people were having, but a dive down a rocky incline to dodge a drone and an encounter with a geth sniper on the same ridge line were definitely hampering. It was taking so long to find a place where I wouldn't be found that I ended up plopping down in a good firing position and throwing caution to the wind. It was good timing too, as Shepard was nearing a wide clearing at the same time as the survivor. I eyeballed the important players on the scene as best I could, then scoped them. The pursuit had thinned a bit during the chase, and the last two of the drones on the job were taken out with some wild shooting from-

"Williams?" I noted out loud. Seeing her gaze shift to the side I quickly scoped out two geth. I only consciously registered 'geth', 'hostage', and 'danger' before instinct took over and I put a bullet in the chest of one of them. It was only after the thing fell over that I processed that the hostage was being placed on one of those conversion spikes and the one I'd shot was the one reaching for the button.

One thing you can say about C-Sec is they really know how to train snipers.

The other geth discarded the hostage and went after Chief Williams. Both she and I were leveling our weapons at it when it was perforated by an incredibly tight burst of fire that I at first thought was from a pistol. Looking over, it was actually Shepard with an assault rifle. That he could be that precise with it was amazing. He shot some praise over the line, "Nice shot, Chief."

"Same to you, Commander." I grinned, "You're clear for right now."

Nihlus sent a status update, "Moving to the dig site."

I scanned for him, "Nihlus, watch your flank, you've got geth coming up from behind."

"Is the dig site clear?"

"No, there's a geth squad at the site and I don't have a clear shot at any of them. That and I have to move again. There's drones patrolling this area and now they know where I am."

"Dammit. Change in plans. Shepard, I'll lure this squad away and then meet up with you elsewhere."

"Got it." Shepard replied then seemed to recruit Williams to the fight.

I added my two cents, "There's a space port just beyond the site. You can circumvent the dig and scout the perimeter. The place is probably crawling even more though."

"Then I'll need some extra support. Can you cover me from anywhere on that ridge?"

"Give me some time and I'll have your back. It's a bit far though, there's no guarantee I'll be able to get a signal though the interference."

"Then just shoot the things you'd normally warn me about. We have to act fast and strike hard or the geth will get the beacon."

"Understood."

I looked for a general area that would be a good place to start looking for a new spot and headed out, trudging along for a few dozen meters and taking a controlled slide down a slope to get to a stony outcropping. By the time I got there, Nihlus was nearing the spaceport, so I looked at the scene ahead. My spot wasn't that great. There was big blind spot on one side and to get from my spot to a new one would take a lot of time. In fact, covering the larger part across the tramway would require climbing down and to another ridge. I did have enough of a view to notice something odd though.

"Nihlus, there's pretty much nothing at the space port entryway. It makes no sense. They should be all over that area." I voiced my concerns over the line. He didn't reply, "Shepard. Did you get that? I think I'm out of range of Nihlus."

Gunfire came over the connection when Shepard activated his headset to reply, "We're a bit preoccupied, but I'll try to relay." the sound of a bullet whizzing by the microphone told me he'd nearly taken one to the helmet, "They're trying to flank! Press harder!"

Keeping an eye on Nihlus, I saw something I didn't expect walk out of the blind spot. Another turian. Nihlus seemed to know him, but something didn't seem right. Nihlus' body language was that of surprise. Zooming in, I could have sword that the new turian glanced right at me, a thought backed up by him miving back into my blind spot. The bad feeling brought a simple fact to mind. If he hadn't talked with us yet and Nihlus was surprised that he was there, that meant he wasn't part of the crew of the Normandy. There weren't any turians on Eden Prime either. As head of security I'd know if there was. He was right in the spaceport and only two vessels had landed on the planet lately. The Normandy and...

"Nihlus! GET DOWN!" I was in motion before the traitor's gun even started raising to shoot Nihlus, who had turned his back to the deceiver. I had to make the shot count. He couldn't hear me, I couldn't shoot the betrayer, and the gun was too small to hit at the distance I was at. It seconds I made a hasty choice.

I shot at Nihlus. Not to kill, but for a wound that would get him out of the way of the gun aimed at his head and hopefully turn him around or get him into cover. My shot went a llittle high in a good but far too close for comfort kind of way, striking the armored hump behind his neck, the force of the shot doing nothing to the man aside from spinning him around and knocking him down. It was perfect spot to shoot him... a matter of inches from accidentally blowing his head off myself. Pure, dumb luck. Problem was, Nihlus was stunned, both by the sudden shot and b noticing the other turian had pulled a gun on him. He was wide open and grounded. The traitor turian simply pelted him with a few rounds and left him for dead. The bastard walked towards the tram and radioed someone. Probably the geth. In fact I was sure he called them since a unit started moving towards Nihlus to secure the area. The wounded turian was hanging on, but I doubted he'd last, especially when incoming hostiles.

"Dammit!" I stood to advance and join Shepard's squad, "Shepard, double time. Nihlus is down and has incoming! Move your ass."

Aiming to take a few of the enemy out, I was too caught up in the moment to think of the obvious. The obvious that sent a bullet straight through my shields from behind and through my torso. If he'd spotted me like I thought he did, then he would've have alerted the geth in my area too. I started falling from the wound, another few rounds driving through me and knocking me the rest of the way off my feet and over the edge of the outcropping I was on. I flipped over to my back as I fell and began sliding and tumbling down the steep slope. The last thing I saw before everything went dark was the headlights of a geth sniper squad.

"Roger that, Chief. I'm en route. Lend as much fire support as you can until we get there. Do you copy?" Shepard's voice came over the line, but I could barely hear it, "Chief Morgan? Chief are you still there? Chief!"

Next Chapter: A Double-Edged Sword

A/N: Sorry for skimming past the canon events, but those events don't really warrant a ton of detail and you can only get so much out the events when you're sharing the perspective of a guy several kilometers away from the place it's happening. I hope I portrayed a sniper supporting the canon events fairly well. Of course Roland isn't dead, and he may have bought Nihlus a second chance at life. How will the new character and Nihlus' survival affect the canon? Stay tuned. Next chapter we find out some more about Roland's past and two fan favorite characters join up.


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